


Do Roidmudes Dream of Electric Sheep

by aquabluejay



Category: Kamen Rider Drive
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 03:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6498196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquabluejay/pseuds/aquabluejay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the day is won, Shinnosuke makes sure Chase is looked after.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do Roidmudes Dream of Electric Sheep

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Toku Exchange for tumblr user mai-is-here.

Chase had looked steady enough, standing there as Shinnosuke thanked everyone for helping bring him back to the land of the living. Then 001 had interrupted, his core rising from the bay to deliver his final words - his final bitter laughter ringing in the air when his core finally shattered.

Shinnosuke stares at the empty space where 001’s core was hovering before it exploded, considering the Roidmude’s final words. They were malicious, calculated to sow distress, to ruin Drive’s victory. And yet, Shinnosuke senses the weight of truth in them. It could only be that weight that made them settle so heavily in his stomach.

Shinnosuke is distracted from his thoughts by the thump of something hitting the ground behind him. Something - or someone, he realizes as he turns to see.

Chase had been standing at the back of the cluster of Shinnosuke’s friends when they came to gather around him moments before. Except Chase isn’t standing there anymore. It takes Shinnosuke a moment to locate the source, but then he spots Chase on the ground and his stomach drops again.

Shinnosuke’s friends are still clustered around him, unaware of what’s happened behind them. They’re between Shinnosuke and Chase and so he shoulders his way past Otta and croses the few yards at a jog. Normally he’d apologize, but at the moment he can't think past getting to Chase's side, almost can’t breathe around the tightness in his chest at seeing Chase lying there.

Shinnosuke noticed Chase limping over to join the celebratory huddle around him and the Tridorian. There had just been a battle, 001 had been there. He hadn't actually seen them fighting, but 001 was standing over Chase when Shinnosuke stepped out of the Tridorian. It made sense that Chase must have taken a few hits. Caught up in the rush of everything, Shinnosuke hadn’t had a chance to think about the other Rider. No, that wasn't true. He hadn't thought much about it at all because he was too caught up in his moment.

The sound of Rinna and Otta’s disgruntled voices drops off suddenly as they turn after Shinnosuke and sees what has him in such a hurry. Shinnosuke drops into a crouch beside Chase and leans down to get a better look at him. 

Chase seems to be in shock or something like it. His eyes are unfocused and he’s squinting a little at the pavement in front of him, almost like he’s confused about how he ended up on the ground. Shinnosuke places a hand on Chase's shoulder to draw his attention. He’s relieved when the Roidmude’s eyes immediately focus on him and then worried again when he sees the pain in them.

“Chase...?” Shinnosuke almost asks if he’s OK, but catches himself. It is abundantly clear that Chase is not OK. Chase is hurt, and badly.

Abruptly, Chase tries to sit up. He barely lifts his shoulders a few inches off the ground before he falls back with a gasp.

“Easy! Easy! Don't try to get up yet.” Shinnosuke’s hands flutter helplessly above the other Rider. “Rinna!” he yells, perhaps a little louder than is necessary considering she’s barely a few steps away. Rinna appears in his vision with Mad Doctor already in hand.

“We need the Break Gunner,” Rinna says, stepping over Chase’s legs to kneel across from Shinnosuke with their fallen teammate between them.

One of Chase’s arms comes up to fumble at his jacket collar. For the first time Shinnosuke catches sight of the white gauze wound around Chase’s right hand. Shinnosuke is momentarily confused, but then Chase finds the pull for his jacket zipper and jerkily tugs it down. His hand slips inside the front and draws out the Break Gun. Rinna reaches over and takes the weapon from Chase’s shaky grip with a soft “thank you,” before she slots Mad Doctor into it.

“I need him on his back,” Rinna tells Shinnosuke, placing one hand on Chase’s shoulder. Shinnosuke nods and helps roll him towards her. Chase let’s himself be moved, his only complaint as they shift him a faint moan dredged up from deep in his throat. Shinnosuke gives Chase’s arm a gentle squeeze before he draws back, giving Rinna room to work.

Rinna presses the Break Gunner to the center of Chase’s chest and pulls the trigger. Mad Doctor goes to work, spreading its power through the Roidmude’s body. His back arches up off the pavement. Rinna bears down, not to force him back down, but to keep the gun in place. Chase pants shallowly, his eyes shut tight and brow drawn tight against the pain. A particularly bright wave of power from Mad Doctor washes over his chest and he visibly bites back a whimper.

Finally, Mad Doctor issues a series of beeps and Rinna lets up on the trigger. All the tension goes out of Chase’s body at once and he collapses fully back onto the pavement.

“That’s about all Mad Doctor can do for now, but Chase’s internal repair systems should be getting to work,” Rinna pronounces.

Mad Doctor’s healing power has its limits unfortunately. It can only heal so much in one go, and that’s not always enough to have the subject back in fighting shape immediately. The truth is that it wasn’t really designed for that.

The shift car wasn’t originally designed to work in a driver or the Rider’s guns. Rinna had actually modified it for Drive. When Krim originally designed Mad Doctor to work alongside Proto-Drive, its primary purpose was to heal civilians caught up in Roidmude attacks. Mad Doctor was meant to restore their mobility enough for them to get out of further danger once slow down abated - or else to heal any life threatening injuries, ensuring their survival until help could come to them. With that in mind, Mad Doctor was programmed for use on humans civilians, not for Riders and never for Chase and his Roidmude body.

However, Mad Doctor worked primarily by speeding up the natural healing processes of the body, an approach which was transferable to the Roidmude’s internal repair system, which had been designed to imitate those of the human body in many ways. Thankfully, this meant that Mad Doctor could be used to heal him.

“I can run diagnostics back at the Pit to assess any remaining damage later. He should be alright though,” Rinna tells Shinnosuke, and although it bothers him a little bit - the way she speaks right over Chase - he figures it’s probably only sensible since Chase hasn’t reopened his eyes yet. He nods and thanks her again for all her help, and she zips up Chase’s jacket before she gets to her feet, which makes Shinnosuke feel a little better again.

“Why don’t you take Chase back in the Tridorian, we can put Ride Chaser on the trailer we bought the Tridorian out her on. Kiriko, Otta, and I can wrap things up here ” Rinna suggests, glancing up at Kiriko hovering nearby, who nods in agreement.

“Both of you could use some rest, Tomari-san,” Kiriko adds.

Shinnosuke pulls the other rider carefully up into his arms. He gets to his feet, feeling the complaints of his own body after all it’s been through recently - the battles against Freeze - to say nothing of the ordeal of being dead or nearly so for twenty-four hours. Kiriko is right, he certainly could use some rest. It’ll be great to get off his feet soon, but he needs to get Chase back to the Pit and settled there first. He shifts Chase’s weight in his arms, and the Roidmude’s eyes crack open.

“You back with us, Chase?” Shinnosuke feels a small smile make its way onto his lips. Chase’s head comes up and he looks steadily at Shinnosuke as he answers.

“My power reserves are severely depleted and there seems to still be some damage to my systems remaining. I believe that it will still be some time before I am operating at full capacity again.”

Mad Doctor had gotten Shinnosuke out of some rough spots, to be sure, and with the adrenaline of battle he'd been able to see through most of those battles. But it’s a mode of healing Shinnosuke would never choose outside of emergency.

The costs of pushing the body to mend itself so quickly were quite high, leaving the patient in bone deep exhausted for hours or even days afterwards. It was part of why Mad Doctor could only heal so much at once. Any body only had so many reserves to be expended on rapid repair - and that was to say nothing of the pain of the process.

“That's alright Chase. Just rest for now, OK?”

Shinnosuke starts walking to the Tridorian. Chase doesn't actually respond, but whether he takes the words to heart or it’s just the after-effects of the healing, Shinnosuke feels him gradually relax. Chase’s head comes to rest against Shinnosuke’s chest just as they reach the car. The Tridorian doesn't have a back seat, so he’ll have to put Chase on the front. Krim helpfully pops the doors open before Shinnosuke even thinks to ask.

“Thanks Belt-san,” he mutters as he bends down to place Chase in the passenger seat. Krim flashes a smiley face from the driver at his waist.

“No Problem!” Shinnosuke often wishes he felt as energetic as Krim always sounds announcing his English catchphrases - especially in moments like this when the day is catching up very quickly.

Shinnosuke leans into the car and tugs the safety straps free from behind Chase’s shoulders. Chase helpfully lifts his arms but otherwise sags against the seatback and lets Shinnosuke strap him in. Shinnosuke snaps the harness buckle together over Chase’s chest before shutting the door and getting in himself. He pulls off his driver and fixes it in place on the dashboard before buckling himself in and starting the engine.

He glances over at Chase once more as he shifts into gear. Chase is drooping in his seat like a melting ice-cream cone in warm weather. Shinnosuke has never seen him so much as slump until today.

“You could sleep you know,” he suggests.

“I will remain alert until we are safely returned to base.”

Shinnosuke raises an eyebrow without taking his eyes off of the road. He could argue with Chase, particularly on the question of just how “alert” the other really is in his current condition. Or he could point out that there are two riders in the car. That one of them just acquired a new form and took out a super evolved Roidmude a little bit ago, and the other one got pummeled by that Roidmude. But no, that wouldn’t be fair, and he doesn't know if Chase fully understands the concept of gentle ribbing between teammates yet anyway.

The Tridorian spirals up a ramp onto the highway and the outward force of the turn pushes both Riders sideways in their seats. Chase slips off whatever center of balance he was maintaining so that all that's holding him upright in his seat is the safety harness.

“Belt-san, could you-?” Shinnosuke begins to ask Krim if he can take over driving for a little bit. Through the steering column, he feels the automatic steering engage before he can even finish the question. Krim anticipating him once again.

“Got it!” The voice from the belt announces.

With Krim in control of the Tridorian, Shinnosuke can safely shift his attention from the road to Chase. Shinnosuke trusts Krim’s driving even more than his own, and so he only hesitates for a second before he unbuckles his harness. He leans over and rights Chase in his seat, gently bracing him with a hand at the side of his neck until the Roidmude tips it back himself against the headrest. Chase’s eyes are still open, though a little fuzzy and hooded and. It’s clear that he’s struggling to stay awake. Well, Shinnosuke’ decided, if he’s not going to talk Chase out of it, he might as well help.

Shinnosuke finds Chase’s bandaged hand and holds it between them, cradling it gingerly in his own larger one. He realizes that he’s never actually seen the Roidmude bandaged before. He’s never seen any lasting marks from their battles - which is strange, considering how many of battles they’ve fought together - or against each other. It’s seemed almost like Chase was never injured to begin with, though he knows that’s far from true.

“How did this happen?” he asks. Chase's gaze focuses on his hand in Shinnosuke’s grasp.

“Freeze shattered a vial of the antidote Rinna synthesised as I was attempting to treat Gou with it.”

“You went after Freeze?”

“No. I intended only to administer the antidote to Gou and retrieve him. However, Gou was in the company of Heart, Medic, Brain, and Freeze at the time.”

“And you went on your own?!”

“You were… unavailable, and at the time I believed Gou was being controlled by Freeze. It seemed to be the only option.”

“Oh, I see… Wait, you ‘believed’...?”

“My attempt to rescue Gou was unnecessary. It appears that Gou is immune to Freeze’s abilities, just as you are. He was simply pretending to be under Freeze's influence to get close to the enemy and obtain… Information,” Chase reports. If Shinnosuke notices Chase's slight hesitation over what Gou sought, he glosses over it in favor of another detail.

“Well, that’s a relief i guess. I thought you told Kiriko that Gou didn't have the mark behind his ear?”

“I… Did not wish to cause her further distress. At the time there was nothing to be done… I lied.”

“...Wow. I didn't know you could do that.” Shinnosuke looks slightly shell-shocked.

“White lies are a human custom I have learned.”

Shinnosuke fights the urge to laugh. Because if he laughs now he knows he won't be able to stop. He’ll be giggling hysterically the rest of the way back to the Pit. And while he knows it probably won't hurt Chase’s feelings too much, what probably will upset him - and everyone else when they find him dead again, asphyxiated from his own uncontrollable laughter.

The remainder of the drive back to the Pit is spent in casual conversation. Or more accurately, Shinnosuke talks and Chase listens, occasionally voicing an opinion in response.

Krim guides the Tridorian into the pit and parks it in it’s place in the center. Shinnosuke climbs out and walks around to lift Chase out. He carries Chase over to the low leather couch against one wall and sets him down on it. He keeps ahold of Chase’s shoulders for a moment while he rearranges the throw pillows.

Chase isn’t so small, not really, but it’s easy to think of him that way when he’s folded so neatly into Shinnosuke’s arms. When Shinnosuke lays on the couch his legs hang off so far he usually just puts his feet on the floor. As it is, Chase is just short enough to lay out fully flat on the couch. Chase looks back up at him with an indecipherable expression for a moment. Crouched there, at something of a loss for what else to do, Shinnosuke reaches out and tousles Chase’s hair.

“There. Now you can get some sleep. Until Rinna gets back at least.” Chase blinks slowly, then nods, looking faintly puzzled. Then, just like that he closed his eyes and went still, apparently asleep, or whatever that meant for a Roidmude. Shinnosuke wheels one of the chairs from the work desk across the room over beside the couch and sits heavily in it. Yes, Kiriko was right, they could both use some rest. He lets his head tilt back against the wall and closes his own eyes just for a moment.

The sound of the pedestrian door to the pit opening wakes Shinnosuke from the doze he’d accidentally slipped into.

“Ah! There you are Tomari-san!” Rinna announces as she spins over towards the workbench and deposits an armful of equipment. “And Chase too,” she adds a little softer, taking in Chase on the couch.

Rinna shuffles some things around at her desk for a few minutes before she comes over to take another look at Chase. It takes almost as long for Rinna to untangle all the wires on her scanning equipment as it does for her to actually check Chase over with it. Chase starts minutely when she brushes the scanner against his chest. His eyes fly open and he tenses.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Rinna says, sounding surprised herself, before finishing her diagnostics.

It turns out that even through the armored chest plate, getting hit as hard and as many times as Chase has in the last few days - getting knocked right out of henshin - leaves a mark.

Rinna reports her findings, not without compassion: Chase's core driver is out of alignment. It should be able to rebalance itself, but right now it's running at half speed, leaving him even more drained than he should be from Mad Doctor’s treatment. The low power is manifesting, to a human eye as sleepiness. Even as Rinna explains it, Chase looks liable to drop back off again at any moment, sitting upright, but with Shinnosuke's steadying hand at his elbow.

The best thing is for Chase to lay back down, and stay there for the night. By morning his core driver should be to rights and most of the remaining damage should be healed. Anything that isn’t healed by then, another treatment from Mad Doctor should be able to take care of.

“You should be back fighting Roidmudes by lunchtime!” Rinna announces with possibly more cheer than the subject necessarily warrants, Shinnosuke thinks. After today, he feels like he could sleep right through lunchtime tomorrow, forget fighting any Roidmudes. It’s hard to tell with Chase, but to Shinnosuke’s eye, he seems just about as excited by the idea. 

Shinnosuke helps Chase ease back down, adjusting the pillows for him in a way that earns him an amused smile and an exaggerated wink from Rinna when he turns around.

“What? What?!”  
“~Oh nothing~!” Rinna trills, twirling back over to the desk to put away her things for the evening.

The office was going to throw a party upstairs, she tells informs him cheerily, to celebrate Shinnosuke’s miraculous return and his victory over Freeze of course. They’ve already sent Otta out for food and alcohol - everyone else is upstairs decorating. Well, that explained where they all were then. With a final glance back at Chase, who seems to have fallen back “asleep” or is at least making a good show of ignoring them, Shinnosuke decides to leave him in peace and flicks off the light before heading upstairs.

Otta arrived back at the office just behind them, shouting to hold the door since his arms were overflowing with party provisions. 

The party turned out to be about as chaotic and noisy as Shinnosuke had come to expect from his five co-workers plus alcohol and party paraphernalia in an enclosed space. He settled himself in his desk chair, in the middle of the room. He let Rinna snap a paper party hat that said “Congratulations!” on it in English on his head while Kiriko giggled, and then accepted a glass of something from Otta “to take away the sting”. It did not “take away the sting”. As it happened Shinnosuke very nearly spat his first mouthful of whatever it was across his desk and Kiriko dissolved into a fresh fit of giggles behind the hand that wasn’t holding her own drink.

About two hours later, a slightly tipsy Rinna approaches Shinnosuke where he’s sitting, still nursing the same drink. (It was only Wednesday and he figured he really doesn’t need to be hung over at work tomorrow on top of everything). Rinna presents with a neatly folded blanket she’s produced from somewhere in the office - probably one of her three lockers by the door with her name painted across them - honestly, who knows what she keeps in there.

“I just though you know, that I don’t know if Roidmudes get cold. They’re metal, you know - but they look like people, so who knows! Krim doesn’t like to talk about it even when you straight out ask him. You know what I think though? I think he doesn’t know really. Silly belt. He made them and he doesn’t even know…” Rinna babbles away while holding the blanket inches from Shinnosuke’s face. “It gets cold down there overnight you know,” she finishes as though that explains everything, and walks away as soon as he confusedly takes it from her. It’s been a very long day and half a glass of something, and so it takes him a few moments more to figure out what he’s meant to do with the blanket.

His hands are halfway to his tie as he stands up, but then he remembers that he has a rink in one hand and the blanket in the other - and also just no. This is definitely not a top gear moment. He sets what's left of his drink resolutely on his desk and slips out the door to go check on Chase.  
When Shinnosuke flips on the lights, Chase is just as they left him.. Shinnosuke shakes out the blanket and lays it over Chase. He pulls the chair over from where he left it by the wall to sit directly in front of the couch, and watches Chase sleep.

Shinnosuke hurt Chase badly once, because he had to. He still regrets it, even knowing as he did then that there was no other option. He can’t help but be reminded of that every time he see’s Chase hurting now - and that’s all too often. He thinks of Kiriko secretly treating Chase with Mad Doctor - of the pain Chase must have been in - how he himself had been the one to cause that pain, no matter the reason. He remembers when Kiriko finally confessed to him that Chase was alive, how she described the state she found him in.

Shinnosuke finds himself frowning as he looks down at Chase.

Chase chose to become a rider again, and Chase is by no means fragile.

There is a weight to his relationship with Chase that Shinnosuke can’t help but feel sometimes, especially in moments like this. Because there is a special trust there - more even than just a bond between Riders. 

Gou liked to call Shinnosuke Shin-nii. Chase may be the senior rider technically, but he is younger than Shinnosuke too. Maybe much younger, if one accounts for all the missing memories, missing years that shouldn't be counted.

On one hand Chase is an adult. He’s clearly capable of making his own decisions - and Shinnosuke would never want to take that away from him. But they are - all of them - also responsible for him in a way - as his friends, and perhaps his guardians.

It isn’t that he doesn’t trust Chase or his abilities, just the opposite. Shinnosuke admires Chase’s bravery, his selflessness. Shinnosuke liked him in a way, even before he came back to their side, even before any of them realized who he really was, or had been at least.

But Shinnosuke can’t help but wonder how much was really Chase’s decision and how much was the reemergence of the programming Krim gave him? It seems that Chase was hard-wired to protect humans. It disquiets Shinnosuke to think that in a way, when Chase is throwing himself into the line of fire, it’s because he’s programmed to do so.

They've been lucky so far. Chase has survived so much against all odds, sometimes beyond all explanation. Someday they won't be so lucky though. Someday they will run out of miracles, and Shinnosuke fears that on that day there’s all too good a chance that it will be Chase who pays the price.

Shinnosuke realizes that his hands are tightly fisted around the fabric of his suit pants. He forces himself to let go and smooth over the fabric. The new wrinkles stubbornly refuse to relax. He turns back to Chase and busies his hands tucking the edges of the blanket in around Chase’s shoulders.

They haven’t taken as good of care of Chase as they should have - not as much as he deserves.

There’s only so much they can do for him. No that's not right either. There is so much they can do for him, bringing him into their lives, into their family. There's just only so much they can do right now. They're at war. They're distracted by so many things... 

No. Those are excuses too. Real ones, valid ones maybe even. But Shinnosuke has never liked excuses. They leave to much wiggle room, let people out of too much. They led to the kind of mediocrity that bred injustice, neglect, or worse.

Brushing back a stray piece of hair that’s fallen over Chase’s closed eyes, Shinnosuke vows to try harder – to be better. He has made the same promise so often in the last few months. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as he doesn’t break it. As long as he keeps making it in fact - keeps meaning it. He just hopes that in the end it will be enough.

Chase’s eyes crack open and he blinks slowly a few times. His eyes wander over half the pit, passively getting his bearings it seems. Shinnosuke shifts slightly in his seat. Chase catches the movement and his eyes instantly zero in on Shinnosuke, before flicking up to meet his unaccountably watery gaze.

“Hey.” Chase just blinks at him again, waiting. “Um… Rinna wanted me to bring you a blanket,” Shinnosuke offers gesturing a little awkwardly. Chase seems to notice the blanket for the first time, bringing his right hand up to touch the fleecy material. It’s his bandaged hand, and Shinnosuke reaches out for it without really thinking. By the time his brain catches up it’s too late to stop or it will be even weirder, so he takes Chase’s hand lightly, holding it in his lap. Chase watches him cautiously, but doesn’t make any move to draw his hand back.

An idea occurs to Shinnosuke, while he’s examining the bandaged palm of Chase’s hand - more as a pretense for having taken it than any other reason. 

“Do you want to come upstairs for a while? Rinna’s right, it is kind of cold down here. There’s a couch up in the office too... but probably knew that.” Shinnosuke shuts himself up when he realizes he’s babbling. There’s a momentary pause as Chase considers the offer.

“If you do not think it will disrupt your party.” Chase doesn't comment on whether or not he finds the cold an issue - the mystery remains - Shinnosuke notes absently to himself..

“Of course it won’t! Everyone will be happy to see you,” Shinnosuke assures him. Emboldened a little by the alcohol, or the exhaustion, or maybe just because - Shinnosuke presses a kiss to Chase’s forehead and then another to the inside of Chase’s wrist before he lays it down and gets to his feet.

“Do you think you feel up to walking yet?”

“I… am uncertain.” Chase eyes the door to the stairs. He doesn’t sound excited about the prospect.

“Don’t push yourself.”

There follows several more awkward moments as Shinnosuke figures out how to best carry a now more lucid Chase upstairs. He finally sighs and lifts him, blanket and all into a bridal carry. Ever practical, Chase automatically hooks his arms around Shinnosuke’s neck to help support himself. Shinnosuke blushes the approximate shade of type speed at the picture they must make before he manages to tell himself to cool it. It isn’t that much different than when he carried Chase to the Tridorian a few hours ago. No need to make it awkward. But this time Chase is definitely watching him thoughtfully from just a few inches away.

“Oh, and if Otta tries to give you anything to drink, just take it and then pour it out somewhere when he’s not looking,” Shinnosuke mutters to Chase as he carefully negotiates the door and the step down into the office with the Chase in his arms.

Things have quieted down a little since Shinnosuke went downstairs with the blanket. There are still random eruptions of laughter or bickering, but over all things have calmed down. Shinnosuke settles Chase on the couch by the door and sits down next to him. Somehow the blanket ends up spread across both their laps.

Sometime later, Shinnosuke catches Chase starting to nod off beside him. He reaches over and pulls the other Rider into his side without saying anything. Chase’s spine stays stubbornly rigid for a moment and then Shinnosuke feels the Roidmude relax against his side. He feels the faintest brush of eyelashes against his dress shirt as Chase’s eyes slide closed.

Yes, bringing Chase up to the party was a good idea. It let them keep a better eye on him, to make sure he was alright, if only for the evening.


End file.
